Students analyze, make inferences and draw conclusions about theme and genre in different cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding.
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS):
5.3.a
Compare and contrast themes or moral lessons of several words of fiction from various cultures.
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS):
5.3.c
Explain the effect of a historical event or movement on the theme of a work of literature.
5th Grade Reading - Theme Lesson
Theme
A theme of a story is a life lesson that teaches the reader about life and the world through the characters and the events.
When identifying the theme of a story, look for:
An idea that applies to more than one person or a situation Example: Friends should look out for each other.
What a character learns from his/her own or the others’ mistakes Example: When you do something bad, something bad happens to you.
The main idea of the story Example: Family is important.
The challenges characters in the story or a drama face. Example: Facing one’s worst fears.
The topic the speaker of a poem addresses. Example: The idea of people changing over time.